Graduates from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) who have since carved out successful careers have returned to share their tips with final year students.
Years after graduating from DMU themselves, Jonny Prest and Corin Crane came back to the campus to inspire a new generation of Art, Design and Humanities (ADH) students at the faculty's annual What Next? event.
The event is designed to motivate students for their final two terms of revision and assessments and make them aware, if they are not already of all the help and support on offer from the faculty to graduation and beyond.
Jonny Prest, Managing Director of online communications consultancy Seed Creativity and Corin Crane leader of the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) were invited to share their career stories alongside ADH PVC/Dean Barbara Matthews. Students were also able to chat to representatives from DMU's Graduate Champions, ADH Employability and ADH Postgraduate and teams for extra help and advice.
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Jonny, who co-founded Leicester-based Seed Creativity in 2011, said he originally graduated from DMU in 2003. He said: "I think I'd always known what I wanted to do - art, design and music are in my DNA. But it took the uni experience to really let me experiment. "I'd say that while at university, students should have fun and try different things. You need self-discipline, yes, but this is a place to find out who you are and what you like."
Corin, who graduated from DMU in 1990, is now director of the LLEP, which helps attract funding to support the growth of local businesses.
He said he was pleased to be able to come and share his experiences with students. He said: "My degree was in English. I don't think it has to have total relevance to what you eventually go in for. It's about the experience of being away from home and showing that you have the commitment and drive to get a degree.
"DMU has changed so much since I went, so much for the better. It now offers so much opportunity and at the LLEP we want graduates to stay on in Leicester. We want to support them - there is more help out there than people realise and I hope that tonight I've been able to get that across."
Rebecca Mason, who is in the third year of her Arts and Festivals Management BA (Hons) course and is looking to work in environmental arts, said the evening had been really helpful.
She said: "I came out of it with a really good idea of what is available for me after graduating. "I think hearing the two speakers gave us a really good idea of the timeframe of achieving what you want; it won't happen right away and you need the mindset which understands that."
Posted on Friday 22 January 2016